Raiders may be able to keep Antonio Brown from playing for someone else

Posted by Mike Florio on September 7, 2019, 10:06 AM EDT

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As the Raiders try to figure out what to do with Antonio Brown, the player seems to be walking right into the team’s nuclear option.

The Raiders eventually may be able to put Brown on the reserve/left squad list, if he leaves the team and refuses return after receiving the so-called “five-day letter.” If that happens, Brown gets shut down for the season, and he can’t go play for another team.

From the moment the latest string of events began to unfold between Brown and the Raiders, plenty of people were musing about the possibility of Brown inevitably landing with the Patriots. And the Raiders surely don’t want to give Brown a one-way ticket to New England.

At this point, however, it’s unlikely that anyone would want Brown. There’s way too much to unpack, way too much due dilgence to be done, to find a way to plug Brown into a new team on the fly. And even if a team decides to roll the dice, they’ll be spending time watching the dice roll and roll and roll via Brown’s various social-media channels and personal interactions with teammates, coaches, and executives when they should be instead focusing on one opponent after another.

Talent is seductive; it’s completely blinded Jon Gruden. But at some point no amount of talent is worth it. Brown has reached that point.

So maybe the Raiders need not worry about engineering the ability to place Brown on the reserve/left squad list. Maybe they should just cut him — and let him go rip apart another franchise the way he’s ripped apart the Steelers and now the Raiders, if someone else is going to be sufficiently seduced by Brown’s talent to overlook the very, very bad that comes with the very, very good.

why is anybody assuming the Patriots would even entertain the thought of signing this guy?
this isn’t an Ochocinco or Randy Moss type of situation….this guy hasn’t played a snap for Oakland and he has managed to architect the biggest side show drama we’ve ever seen in this league.

I don’t think he’ll last at a place like NE. They’re very structured and disciplined there. He might respect BB while he’s at practice but what’s gonna happen when he starts posting weird things again. AB isn’t the run of the mill wife receiver diva… He seems deeply disturbed.

Pity. Sure would look good on the other side of another former Raiders WR! Jerry is a master at working with players to guide them through tough times. Put The Star on his helmet and nothing stopping the best QB, RB and WR duo in the NFL! Lombardi comes home.

Feels like it was only 24 hours ago that we learned of an emotional apology. And you guys said we probably wouldn’t hear any more from him until monday night. Just imagine where we could be in another 24 hours

Not a Pats fan, but the Patriots have taken on some questionable characters in the past and they’ve (mostly) turned out ok for at least a season.

That being said, I don’t think Belichick would want this guy. The whole Pats philosophy seems to be Team First and AB is absolutely ME first. Someone will sign him (if he’s available), but I don’t think it will be New England.

I really want them to do this. Dude needs to re-evaluate who he is. Needs a year to sit out & think. There are all kinds of stories about this guy back in Pitt going back many years. Even Troy Polamalu has talked about this dudes antics.

I don’t think even the Patriots would be able to do anything with him. He thinks he’s more important than the team. More important than the HC or GM. You think Belichick is going to put up with his BS for one second?

Complete solution: Suspend him for 1 game to ensure the money for this season does not become guaranteed beyond the voiding of his contract provision. He will throw a fit and fail to show after the suspension. Send the 5 day letter. He won’t show. Even if he does, he will have acted out in some way prior to showing up. If he fails to show he is shut down for the season. If he does shoe, suspend him the max amount a team can for conduct detrimental. That should be an additional 4 games but it might be argued that it is 3 based on the first suspension. At best, Brown can begin playing for a new team week 5. At worst, he loses a year and all the money associated with it.

Must have taken too many shots to the head. Maybe he needs a better helmet……..oh wait. Just move on from this guy, he’s never gonna play. One of the best talents gone to waste. Even fantasy owners won’t draft him, why should any real NFL team. #0%Owned

AB…a colossal jackass. Oakland has bent over backward for him given all the training camp BS with the frost bitten feet, helmet fiasco, and then the meltdown with Mayock. The Raiders did the things to protect themselves WITHIN THE CONTRACT AND CBA, and AB is throwing a hissy fit. Cancer is not as serious enough of word to describe this guy. Raiders need to cut bait and move forward with what they have. They will be MUCH better off.

I doubt New England would want him at this point, he is way too toxic.
Lost in all this is the report that he still arrives late at team meetings like he did in Pittsburgh and then pay little attention to what is being said. I just don’t think he could reinvent himself and change significantly at this stage of his career.
Just that would be enough to be kicked out out of the team by Belichick.
Beside, presently the Pats are petty loaded at the position.

I really don’t see how any player with character has any respect left for Jon Gruden. If you listened to the illegally taped phone conversation of Gruden kissing Brown’s butt, well how could you possibly have any respect for him as an authority figure?

Also I am not sure what Brown is fighting against from a system that hasn’t served him, he is a multi-millionaire from the very system that he is somehow railing against. He grew up in a Miami slum, he now lives in a mansion . . . so?????

I agree, put a star on his helmet, let him destroy that team before playing a game, that would be really amusing. lol best wr/qb/rb tandem, you cowgirl fans never lose your delirium, do you? I have news for you, Dakota is the most overrrated QB in the league, I can’t wait for him to get paid so they can’t sign one of their actual important players on D. Enjoy your 8-8, 9-7 season

At some point here the media is going to pick up on the fact that the common thread in a few of the league’s most crazy irrational player situations is Drew Rosenhaus. There’s too much to unpack right now with AB, but I can’t wait to see that guy exposed for his role in all these crazy situations!

All these people commenting about Belichick “not” interested in AB don’t know anything about Belichick. He will take anyone if it will help him win a football game. There is truly no out of bounds with him, look at Aaron Hernandez. If it gets this far the Patriots will have all the leverage and set the rules that they will enforce them on a player that will be down to his last strike.

Football God says:
September 7, 2019 at 10:21 am
If Raiders let Antinio Brown walk away and he goes to the Patriots wins the Superbowl What will get John Gruden blood boiling Antonio Brown hosting a Lombardi or remembering the Tuck rule Game.

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Patriots doesn’t need this guy to win a SB. If anything, Brown lessens the chance NE will win SB.

FIRE GRUDEN NOW!!!!! He enabled AB and caused all this crap! He made himself out to be the only authority the roster had to worry about by punking Mayock Thus creating a no accountability atmosphere. Gruden must go!!!

For sure Brown has issues, more issues then most can deal with or put up with, but something smells here as well. I do not think Mayock and Gruden are on the same page and if they are, then it appears that Gruden is probably two faced and spineless. Brown’s the moron here, but it appears that Gruden and Mayock botched this episode.

Brown has always been a selfish, me first player, but the last couple years with the Steelers you could see the beginning of the end for him. He’s more interested in doing his own thing, and his only interest in football is to further his “brand”, and show out. He apparently doesn’t know that without football, his brand is non-existent. The Steelers possibly could have handled him differently, but in the end AB self-destructed. You see the result of discipline, he takes his marbles and goes home with the “release me” statement.

The thing Antonio doesn’t realize is he just kissed 30 million in guaranteed money away. What other team is going to give him that type of money ? The Patriots are known not to pay players that much. If he were to be released, I think he would end up with the Chiefs. Andy Reid has already dealt with a player like this in TO. Antonio Brown the only guy that would throw away 30 million guaranteed. Who does that ?

It’s not ripping apart the Raiders. The players are standing together. Brown we want you to play. If you don’t want to, we’ll move on. Mayock and Gruden don’t seem to agree. Gruden wants Brown to play. Mayock leaks and doesn’t explain fines and voiding guarantee to Brown. Why doesn’t Mayock communicate to Brown what he communicates to his buddies in the media?

First year in to Mayock’s GM career he needs to make a statement. Put your foot down and get rid of him or else this will carry on in to the year and the headlines won’t be about the Raiders and them going on and going to Vegas in a year, it will be like it is, all about Brown. Need to cut him now, it’s almost too late.

T.O. doing sit-ups in his driveway all over again. The Eagles won the battle but lost the war. History repeats itself and these diva morons just keep showing up stupid.
I have lost a lot of respect in Chucky and I hope he fades away. Mayock belongs back on TV.

Meanwhile, Roger Goodell and the NFL have been quietly mum on the Raiders/AB situation even though AB used a racial slur and threatened his boss. Gruden and Mayock have played the good cop/bad cop extremely well, while Roger Goodell and his team of attorneys have quietly orchestrated the final scene – coming soon, in which Antonio Brown jumps into his hot air balloon and floats off to oblivion, unemployed, and penny less.

how delusional can someone possibly be?? He blames the Raiders for his actions. Wow. time to go sit on a couch in an office or group therapy. serious issues or complete idiot. not sure which one. leaning at the latter but former has to be in play

This guy is an idiot, no other way to put it. If anything, his agent needs to be fired for not protecting him from himself. He’ll be out of the league before he realizes how good he had it and become a cautionary tale.

The NFL needs to step in now. The media is eating this up and it’s only giving him what he wants if the NFL really cares about players they would shut him down until he literally has his head scanned. I think everything has come full circle from when he got his head knocked off by Berfict to now being held back from committing assault by him. I’m done with this story until otherwise.

As a long time Raider fan, this kind of stuff really makes me miss Tim Brown. what a Pro he was, he dealt with some of the worst QBs ever and still showed up every day and put up numbers.

AB quits because of a helmet then blows up because he is fined for it and now its snowballed into what we have.

somebody said it before i dont remember who but they were 100% correct, Pit enabled this dude to get away with so much, and now the Raiders are paying for it. the first time somebody holds him accountable for his actions this is what happens.

justintuckrule says:
September 7, 2019 at 10:34 am
Total minority opinion but I agree with AB. justintuckrule says:
September 7, 2019 at 10:34 am
Total minority opinion but I agree with AB. Can’t strip his guarantees and expect him to play week to week. Both player and team need to be all in with each other or all out.

Is he a tremendous pain? Yes. Did the raiders not know this? The Steelers gave a generational talent away for a bag of peanuts.

Cut him or restore his guarantees and play him. Simple. Both player and team need to be all in with each other or all out.

Is he a tremendous pain? Yes. Did the raiders not know this? The Steelers gave a generational talent away for a bag of peanuts.

Cut him or restore his guarantees and play him. Simple.
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Your take completely discounts and rewards Browns actions. The Raiders are responding to actions by Brown. HE started all this. HE is to blame. HE acted in a way that triggered the response by the Raiders to void his guarantees. “Can’t strip his guarantees and expect him to play week to week.” No. Antonio Brown cannot act the way he has been and expect the Raiders to ignore the contract consequences and pay him everything as if he were a contributing member of the team.

Prevent him from playing somewhere else? Huh? First off, I’m not sure he would be able to find ‘another place’, and if he did, how would that be a bad thing for the Raiders? Giving your enemies anthrax only helps you defeat them.

Rob Gronkowski was the best TE in the league. He decided to retire from football as the #1 guy. Andrew Luck was one of the best QB’s in the league. He too decided to hang em up. Jim Brown, perhaps the greatest player of all time, walked away from the game, while still being the greatest. Maybe A.B. just decided he no longer wanted to keep playing football. He might have come to that conclusion toward the end of last season. He’s just stretching out the retirement ceremony. As we’ve seen with some of the game’s biggest stars, not all of them wish to play football until they can’t walk anymore. I’ll bet the TV networks are already having internal discussions about how they could utilize a personality like Brown’s in the studio.

The problem with the 5-day letter is it could force AB to show up at the facility. The letter doesn’t force him to dress or participate in practice. He just has to be in the building. That is a potential powder keg.

For those comparing this guy to Ochocinco or Randy Moss – not even close! Randy Moss had SPECIFIC issues with SPECIFIC things he disagreed with. Like him or not, Randy is INTELLIGENT.

And Ochocinco, was frankly more compatible to Gronck. Made a little noise for having some fun.

Antonio Brown has a classic persecution complex. Someone with this problem will LOOK for things to be offended by, and then become obsessed with whatever that thing is… MAKING it a MAJOR problem. And that cycle will never stop.

“All these people commenting about Belichick “not” interested in AB don’t know anything about Belichick. He will take anyone if it will help him win a football game. There is truly no out of bounds with him, look at Aaron Hernandez”

Ah the Aaron Hernandez argument. Hernandez was a monster in secret off the field, but the was pretty much a model player in the locker room in that he caused zero problems with the team and teammates, came to meetings and practices on time etc. Hernandez never caused a single problem with the team until the murders came out. Big difference.

Even cancer is looking at Brown with envy saying “Man, what a cancer Antonio Brown is”. He won’t be a Patriot if released

Your take completely discounts and rewards Browns actions. The Raiders are responding to actions by Brown. HE started all this. HE is to blame. HE acted in a way that triggered the response by the Raiders to void his guarantees. “Can’t strip his guarantees and expect him to play week to week.” No. Antonio Brown cannot act the way he has been and expect the Raiders to ignore the contract consequences and pay him everything as if he were a contributing member of the team.
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His feet got frost bitten and he had a helmet issue is what started it. It snowballed from there. He was blamed for the frostbite even though the safety wear is supplied to him and it’s checked. The helmet issue was made out to be a federal case. From there Mayock would do something and not tell Brown until after it appeared the issue had been resolved. So, Mayock didn’t know how Brown would react to the guarantees being voided from Brown’s contract. This appears to have been Mayock’s end game since he made the statement you’re in or out.

The Cowboys would grab him up in a heartbeat. If not the Cowboys imagine Brown in New England or Kansas City along side of Hill. If Brown were able to sign with another team, it would take about 12 hours until a deal was done; Brown is well aware of it too.

I guess it’s the way of the world today, blaming a one’s own shortcomings on someone else. Why hasn’t Tomlin ruined all of these other guys? Why are the only players I hear complaining about Tomlin malcontents, that are no longer on the team? Ones he tried to rein in, and finally let walk. I have said before Tomlin is too much of a players coach for my liking, but to lay all of this at his feet is just as absurd as laying the Hernandez debacle at Belichick’s.

All unions are required under collective bargaining agreements to defend their members and file grievances if requested to do so. It doesn’t mean they expect to win or will do so as vigorously for this grievance as they would for a legitimate one.

Wilbon, Blackistone, bomani Jones, Stephen A Smith and their ilk mentioned nothing whatsoever about the racial slurs this racist used. Those hypocrites would’ve been wailing continuously if the roles were reversed. Bomani Jones is by far the biggest racist on TV. His show on ESPN is awful yet it wont get cancelled because he has that privilege. The few times I watched it, he actually made a disparaging remark to Pablo Torres about using chopsticks and there was zero uproar or outrage per the usual course.

If there was ever a person that deserved to be blackballed, this is the guy. Here’s to hoping that no other teams touch this turd. And he brought this all on himself. He’s mental, and social services should look in to the welfare of his kids.

I am not sure why people think he is the best receiver, when there are receivers like DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, Michael Thomas and AJ Green around, who are just as good, if not better, and they do not cause any headaches for teammates or coaches. I leave out OBJ because he too is a bit of a troublemaker.

Sooner or later, a man has to come to the realization that his problems are a result of bad decisions HE has made. Things HE has said. And HE has to change.

I think Mayock has handled this situation masterfully. by waiting until after the apology to tell him his money’s no longer going to be guaranteed,he revealed the true Antonio Brown. If he meant a single bit of the apology, he’d humbly go shut up and play. Mayock played it beautifully.

There’s one thing I’ve learned about people growing up is out side of committing murder, rape, or pedophilia most people are quuck to forgive. Most people WANT to forgive. But to be forgiven you have to show you recognize your behaviour was wrong, you’re sorry for what you’ve done and through your actions show you no longer will engage in that type of behavior again. Heck you don’t even have to mean it…after all who can truly know if your chang is an act or bot except you…but you have to make an effort.

As someone who is very pro player and who believes everyone deserves a second chance it saddens me to say the league needs to give up on Antonio Brown as both punishment for his actions and to also help Brown the person. I don’t mean ban him because there are CBA standards that dictates that but based on his conduct teams should stay clear of him. Clearly there’s something very wrong with him.

georgeremus says:
September 7, 2019 at 10:50 am
All these people commenting about Belichick “not” interested in AB don’t know anything about Belichick. He will take anyone if it will help him win a football game. There is truly no out of bounds with him, look at Aaron Hernandez. If it gets this far the Patriots will have all the leverage and set the rules that they will enforce them on a player that will be down to his last strike.

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No Belichick will not put up with this guy. Remember that we only see the instagram noise. But this guy is also chronically late and disinterested in team meetings. He does not have a lot of interest in learning routes either, he likes more if an “I will get open, hit me when I do” approach and has been getting allowed that up to now because he does indeed get open pretty consistently. But Belichick doesn’t build on one guys extra talent. He works to have all players run like a single mechanism. So a lot of discipline is involved. He has had guys before that were great receivers as far as their individual accomplishment went, but still their skills did not adapt well to the ‘one well oiled machine’ approach on the Patriots. Brown would be one of those. And also, Belichick would cut him over a single instagram post. Heck, you just saw the trouble JC Jackson got into with Belichick for talking smack on one opponent? Imagine his response to an AB media circus thats directed at the team itself?

Regarding the reference with Hernandez, you do know Hernandez was not coming into work bragging about all the gang banging he got in that week? Belichick was not trying to gloss over murders. No one knew and by the time it became known (not just being asked and looked into) that he himself was part of a murder he was already gone from the team. (He had been fired a few hours earlier for lying to Kraft. Back when the cops were only considering him as a possible witness Kraft had asked him if he knew anything about the matter and he said he did not. So as soon as it became evident that he a least knew something Kraft ordered him cut for that lie and did not wait to find out the rest) To suggest that the Patriots were knowingly coddling and/or protecting a murderer is ridiculous. Nobody honestly thinks that is how it went down, even if thats not enough to stop some guys from saying it anyways.

The Radiers were so easy for Brown to take advantage of. Both Mayock and Guden jumped on him. Didn’t do their homework and due diligence.
Very lucky not to lose any money but it definitely has been a distraction and hurt the team.
I think Soap Opera Brown is done in the NfL. Don’t think even Belichick would gamble on that.

georgeremus says:
September 7, 2019 at 10:50 am
All these people commenting about Belichick “not” interested in AB don’t know anything about Belichick. He will take anyone if it will help him win a football game. There is truly no out of bounds with him, look at Aaron Hernandez.
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Aaron Hernandez didn’t have any criminal issues while with the Patriots until….and he was cut by the team 90 minutes after he was arrested for it. The Patriots have limits to the off the field shenanigans they will tolerate.

Brown needs help. He’s become delusional with himself.
“The system is blind to talents like mines” man, what kind of nonsense is that? The system failed me, I’ve been fighting against the system all my life, etc. This man has lost his MIND and someone in his life needs to wake him up.

Instead, either A.)someone will sign him despite all his antics, or B.) He’ll turn himself into the next Kap, claiming victim status, collusion by the league, etc. The whole thing is a damn shame, he had so much potential. He forgot he was a late-round pick and the system he rails against made him a star.

Clearly the Raiders knew what they were getting going into this signing– a high risk/potentially high rewards player and they called it wrong, so, now it’s some big soap opera getting WAY TOO MUCH media attention that only serves to fuel further this type of behavior and has become a seasonal storyline rather than the game?
The best way to handle a spoiled attention seeking child throwing tantrums is to quietly deal with the matter w/o giving further attention to the situation…you don’t feed the monster by making him the focus of every storyline across the country on opening week!
This should be an internal matter, not the dominate story of the weekend. I blame the media as much as Antonio Brown and so the Raiders have a case of buyers remorse…Oops!
I see Dallas in AB’s future where everything is bigger, including egos!

Well AB has gone and signed with The Patriots. The guys and I at the office (here in the Kansas City area) were certain this was going to happen. Anyway, everyone keeps talking about AB the cancer that he is and that it wont work but has anyone stopped to think that this plan was in motion for months now. Maybe the latest antics of AB were exactly so he could end up getting cut by the Raiders and picked up by the Patriots. Yeah, I know its been said he was that way in Pittsburgh too but I really dont think he ever wanted to go to Oakland and once he got there, he found a way to get out of there and where he really wanted to go. Just my opinon.